Dec 08 2016

This Week in Forensic Science

No one has hours to scour the papers to keep up with the latest news, so we’ve curated the top news stories in the field of Forensic Science for this week. Here’s what you need to know to get out the door!

DNA Diagnostics Center® (DDC® or the Company), one of the world’s largest private DNA testing companies, announces the acquisition of IDENTIGENE® LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sorenson Genomics, LLC. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Legislation long championed by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) to help ensure that the criminal justice system functions fairly now goes to the White House for signature after the Senate overwhelmingly passed the bill on Thursday. The Justice for All Reauthorization Act aims to reduce the rape kit backlog by supporting grant programs that fund forensic testing.

Timothy Bridges was convicted of raping an elderly woman in 1991, based on two hairs found at the scene of the crime, and despite a bloody handprint on the wall that didn’t match him. He served 25 years in prison, before his conviction was vacated and he was released on bond last autumn.

The USS Oklahoma was hit by multiple torpedoes and capsized during the attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, resulting in the loss of 429 Navy and Marine personnel. Seventy-five years later the Department of Defense DNA Registry under the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System is still hard at work to bring those servicemen home to their families.

Significant problems with a forensic test used by crime labs across the country — including results that are flat-out wrong ­— have surfaced in Santa Clara County, potentially undermining a pending death penalty case as well as dozens of local sexual assault convictions dating back more than a decade.

This month, APD will start sending backlogged DNA kits to both laboratories for testing. The department says they plan to send 100 cases every two weeks to SWIFS. They’ll also continue their agreement with DPS. The DPS agreement allows them to send up to 20 critical cases in need of expedited processing to the DPS lab each month.

Women who report sexual assault at the hands of their intimate partners don’t always cooperate with the criminal investigation. Because of fears for personal safety, or a desire to “put the incident behind her,” the help for detectives can slow down or disappear entirely shortly after the initial police response.

Colleen Fitzpatrick is an American scientist who is widely regarded as the founder of the field of forensic genealogy. Boasting a Ph.D. in nuclear physics from Duke University, Fitzpatrick owned a contract company that specialized in high-resolution laser measurements techniques. After contracts with NASA and other government agencies ran their course, Fitzpatrick decided to close the company and finish writing her first book, “Forensic Genealogy.” It was an overnight success.